This blog is dedicated to all the gorditos, chubbies, huskies, bears, afrentados and foodies that love to eat delicious food and can't wait to hear where they should go next to get their grub on! I'm going to give you the 411 on all the places I love to frequent and all the places I seek out, like the culinary explorer that I am. I'm going to be real and tell what I feel and think. Bring on the comments and most importantly bring on the FOOD!

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

A Spoonful of Sofrito: Remembering La Nacional, A Treasure Lost!

A Spoonful of Sofrito: A Pinch of advice that will add a lot of flavor to your life.

Remembering La Nacional,

A Treasure Lost!

Sofrito Lovers,

My heart is broken! A piece of history is gone! La Nacional, an amazing Spanish restaurant in Chelsea, has closed its doors.

Yesterday, I was sitting eating my lunch, when I received a notice from Eater.com to check out a few of their latest articles. I decided to click on a few and to my dismay I read the title, "Remembering La Nacional, A Treasure Lost!"

I discovered it years ago with my partner David. We both loved the food and the ambiance. It wasn't one of these ultra chic or trendy Yuppie/Hipster/Chelsea Boy establishments, full of assholes who are full of themselves. It was laid back, welcoming and peaceful.

La Nacional was a place where you could just chill and eat good food. You didn't have to be bombarded by the obnoxious losers who love to visit Chelsea.

Since our first visit, David and I have eaten there several times. I've visited several times on my own as well. I've loved eating there alone, enjoying the Paella and reading X-Men comics.

All good things must come to an end! I will miss La Nacional. I wish I had written about it and recommended it to more people. Check out the article below on this great culinary loss! ¡Buen provecho!

Remembering La Nacional, A Treasure Lost

Since 1868, the Spanish Benevolent Society on
West 14th Street has been anchor of the fading neighborhood known as
Little Spain. Its barren basement bar was a gathering place, first for
Basque mariners, then for immigrants from many regions of Spain, and
later for community leaders, diplomats, and visiting artists and
writers, some of whom lodged in the transient rooms upstairs. By
tradition, Luis Buñuel, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Pablo Picasso all
stayed upstairs during visits to New York, and presumably took the
occasional nightcap in the downstairs workingman’s bar.

Why was I smiling?

Who is Ben The Pen Ramos?

I'm a cute, husky, Boricua lover of food and liberation. I educate, organize and moblize for various revolutionary causes in between having meals at, what I think are, some of the best restaurants, cafes, bars, cuchifritos, chimichurri trucks, and taquerias in the city.
I have never studied culinary arts/sciences; I am not a professional critic, nor do I have one of those super sensitive palettes that can divine every ingredient and spice in a meal.
My only qualification is that I am a fat ass that loves to eat food and share his opinion.
I watch alot of cooking shows on PBS, have watched every episode of Top Chef on the Bravo Channel and walk around the city aimlessly until I spot a restaurant that looks good!
I cannot cook to save my life, but I can eat with the best of them! Enjoy my blog!

Sofrito In My Soul

Sofrito in my soul, because I was lucky enough to be raised on delicious home made Puerto Rican criolla (typical food).

I learned to love food in my Mami's cocina (kitchen). I learned to appreciate the sacred, mystical, and transformative art of cooking and, most importantly, reveled in the epic journey that is eating and tasting!

Sofrito was the building block of every meal Mami masterfully crafted in her Five star Kitchen. Sofrito is a fragrant sauce and wet seasoning comprised of onions, garlic, pepper (either small sweet red peppers or green bell peppers), oregano, cumin, bay leaf, oil, and culantro puréed together in a blender.

A blend of African, Taino and Spanish culture all in one delicious green potion that provides the incredible explosion of flavor in every bite of Puerto Rican food. Whether it is used to marinade proteins, added to soup or stew stocks, or to flavor a caldero (pot) of beans, Sofrito is that little bit of Puerto Rican pride we add to all of our dishes.Sofrito in my soul, because through food, I travel the world, but despite however far I go, I always come back to my Mami's kitchen in Harlem; our little piece of Puerto Rico on W139th Street!